Question

Critical Thinking Assignment Four

3. Generally, liberals believe that people are poor because of circumstances beyond their control (economics, health, society, family background), while conservatives believe people are poor because of their own individual failures (laziness, lack of character, decision not to study or pursue higher education (or lack of the discipline to do so or to follow through and work hard)). What do you believe? What steps would you propose to reduce poverty, on the basis of what you think causes it? What should America do about the high school dropout problem and the low grades and scores of particularly minority students--how does the country solve this?

Answer 1

My stand on this topic is tilting towards the liberals, liberals are generally correct when they pinpoint causes of poverty as lack of social mobility due to lack of basic amentites including health and eduaction. Infact the most common source is inequality of opportunities.

Social mobility—defined as the ability to move from a lower to a higher level of education or occupational status, or from a lower to a higher social class or income group—is the great hope of economic development. For many, it should also be one of the fundamental characteristics of a good society: that people should be able to climb as high as they are able, and not to be hindered because of gender, race, class, or economic disadvantage. For a population to escape poverty, all groups must be involved in the decision-making process — especially when it comes to having a say in the things that determine your place in society. Some of these may be obvious, but in other situations, it can be subtleConflict is one of the most common forms of risk driving poverty today. Large-scale, protracted violence that we’ve seen in areas like Syria can grind society to a halt, destroying infrastructure and causing people to flee.

Poverty causes hunger, but hunger is also a cause — and maintainer — of poverty. If a person doesn’t get enough food, they’ll lack the strength and energy needed to work (or their immune system will weaken from malnutrition and leave them more susceptible to illness that prevents them from getting to work).Extreme poverty and poor health often go hand in hand. In countries where health systems are weak, easily preventable and treatable illnesses like malaria, diarrhea, and respiratory infections can be fatal — especially for young children. And when people must travel far distances to clinics or pay for medicine, it drains already vulnerable households of money and assets, and can tip a family from poverty into extreme poverty.